Product recommendations

Hi all,
Just wondering what baby seats people chose and if you can recommend them? We are not wanting to use a capsule so anything that people have from birth and up?
Also, mundane product question but can you use cot sheets on a bassinet and can anyone recommend anywhere to buy some nice ones that aren't $50! Do you also use these for the bassinet in the pram?
Lastly, is a white noise/sound machine necessary or would a monitor such as the HelloBaby digital which plays lullabies through it be ok?
Thanks in advance!

We used the Infasecure Quattro for DS3 from birth and are very happy with it so far, its a small seat and rear facing it didn't interfere with the passenger seat. Additionally he is a huge child and was comfortable rear facing until after he was 2, so happy from a safety point of view.

For a bassinet, you would generally use a standard pillowcase on the mattress, I think. We have a cradle with a larger mattress than most bassinets, and used a flat cot sheet doubled over.

In the pram bassinet, I used a towel over the mattress with a pillowcase over that.

We used old phones with a white noise app for white noise. White noise was an absolute godsend, particularly with DS1, and I used the RelaxMelodies app which lets you pick and choose sounds. I believe they have changed it to a subscription which is bad, but I got it years ago for $2. Our monitor played a lullaby for 10 minutes but we played white noise all day/night...and still do.

We used fitted bassinet sheets (and mattress protectors- not sure where I read it, but would highly recommend your bassinet having mattress protector, then fitted sheet, then mattress protector again, and a final sheet. Cause bub will wet through, or vomit or something in the middle of the night- we actually ended up triple sheeting cause DS liked leaked a lot at night lol) as they are a lot smaller than a cot. For flat sheets we used basic flanalette wraps doubled up (pack of three from target and we had DS end of April so it was cold) and cot blankets (given lots of these at baby shower etc...).
For carseats, I have an insecure and thought it was good, but DH got a britax for his car as it takes up less depth and I like it better. It was more expensive but it reclines more and yet takes up less space. No idea the type but it was about $350 rrp I think?
Best of luck with it all!

I can't help on the car seat as we used a capsule to begin with, but I can give a recommendation on white noise.

We started off using an old iphone with SIM card removed, and a free app called "White Noise Lite" - our baby liked the "Brown Noise" sound the best, up LOUD... right near the cot. I started to get concerned about the effect of having a mobile right near him for such a large portion of the day (it still pings an emergency signal, I think, with the SIM removed???)* so I ended up buying one of these instead:

DS liked it and slept with the waves sound on until he was about 8 months old. It also meant we could be noisy in the house and the machine would drown us out

Bassinet sheets: given your baby will only be in there maximum a few months before outgrowing it, I'd be looking at the 100% cotton/jersey options at Target or Kmart. Usually in the sub-$10 category. They do the job just fine and stand up to the task of being vomited on and washed daily.

*ETA: tin foil hat syndrome here, possibly? I was pretty antsy in those first few weeks after bub arrived

Car seat - we have the britax Millenia safe and sound and we love it. Can be used from 6 months until about 4 years.

Not all cot sheets will fit bassinets so just check the measurements on the box. Agree you can get cheap ones from target.

I use my white noise machine all the time. Literally all night for DS 16 weeks old. I prefer it over lullabies as I feel the white noise (we have the ‘my baby sound spa’ and use the ocean sounds) sort of insulates him from other outside noises better as it’s a continuous sound, as opposed to lullabies which have short pauses between songs. Since we started using it he’s been sleeping so much better during the day and now sleeps 7pm-7am with one night feed. Not to say that’s 100% due to the white noise machine but I’m sure it’s helped.

Car seat - we have the britax Millenia safe and sound and we love it. Can be used from 6 months until about 4 years.

The Millenia is from birth to approximately 4 years, not from 6 months. It is a convertible, extended rear facing seat, so suitable from birth. Most children will get more than 4 years use out of it, but it will depend on the torso height of your child. It's an excellent seat (I have two), but very long in rear facing mode. You can go to a baby store and try the floor models in your car. Just make sure it's in rear facing mode, and you extend the seat to full rear-facing height to ensure it fits. If the Millenia is too big for your car, the Graphene from Safe n Sound is also a very good seat, and is much more compact.

For bassinets, make sure you have a proper fitted sheet for safe sleep. Flat sheets, pillow cases etc can come loose and become a hazard.

The Millenia is from birth to approximately 4 years, not from 6 months. It is a convertible, extended rear facing seat, so suitable from birth. Most children will get more than 4 years use out of it, but it will depend on the torso height of your child. It's an excellent seat (I have two), but very long in rear facing mode. You can go to a baby store and try the floor models in your car. Just make sure it's in rear facing mode, and you extend the seat to full rear-facing height to ensure it fits. If the Millenia is too big for your car, the Graphene from Safe n Sound is also a very good seat, and is much more compact.

For bassinets, make sure you have a proper fitted sheet for safe sleep. Flat sheets, pillow cases etc can come loose and become a hazard.

Quite right! No idea why I wrote 6 months when our 4 month old has been in his since birth. Am I still able to blame baby brain 😜